A telephone ringing. A car horn blaring. Fluorescent lighting overhead. These are everyday sights and sounds that most people don’t give a second thought to. But for a person with autism, being around ordinary sensory stimuli can be uncomfortable or even unbearable.
Autism, typically thought of as a disorder affecting social functioning, can also have a profound effect on sensory processing. Although no two cases of autism are alike, it’s estimated that up to 90 percent of children and adults with autism experience some form of sensory difficulty. Some individuals with autism are overly sensitive to light, sound, touch or scent, while others might appear to be numb to them.
It’s difficult for doctors to treat the strong reactions to light and sound reported by so many people with autism because there hasn’t been much research exploring sensory processing in those with the disorder. However, a team of researchers has shown that the sensory issues in autism can be modeled in fruit flies, marking a significant step toward understanding this complex condition and possibly leading to new therapies.
